Monthly Blog Patrol, and a Meme

Every month, Coffee from The Spice Cafe sends us off on a mission called the Monthly Blog Patrol: the idea is to browse our favorite blogs and choose some recipes that make us want to run to the kitchen and try them, and, well, run to the kitchen and *actually* try them, instead of just drooling all over the keyboard. The theme for this month is Preserves!

Garlic Chutney

When Archana from Tried and Tested Recipes made Lasnichi Chutney (garlic chutney) for RCI: Maharashtra, my heart skipped a beat. This chutney is a permanent feature of the everyday menu in my parents' home, but for some strange reason, I had never attempted to make it.

So I did: I used Archana's recipe with only two additions of my own: 1 T sesame seeds and 1 t cumin seeds. I roasted these briefly with the garlic, then let everything cool down before grinding it in the food processor. You need a few minutes of processing before the chutney gets to the right consistency. Here is the result, filled into an old peanut butter jar:

It was delicious, and will now be a permanent feature in my home too! It is a versatile chutney: I love it with simple dal-rice and yogurt-rice, sprinkled on toasted buttered bread, as an accompaniment to potato patties. The dry garlic chutney can be mixed with some yogurt to make an instant dip.

Last night, we enjoyed a light dinner: yogurt-chutney with aloo parathas, a simple two-bean stir-fry (green beans and soybeans), and no-oil lemon pickle.

Lime Squash

To sip alongside this meal, a refreshing Lime Squash from Anita of A Mad Tea Party.
Squash is a term that, in India at least, refers to fruit syrups that are either home-made or store-bought. Once you have these at hand, you can mix up a refreshing drink in seconds by mixing the syrup with some cold water. I halved Anita's recipe but otherwise followed it closely. The result was awesome- citrusy and tangy-sweet and oh-so-restorative in this weather! The only thing is: I was not able to peel the limes as well as Anita (just look at the pictures on her post) and I managed to peel off too much of the "white portion" of the lime, making the syrup just a tad too bitter than it should have been. I enjoyed it anyway, and will be making the syrup again!

For a delicious collection of pickles, jams and powders, check out Coffee's Round-Up!

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In the past few days, I was tagged for the "7 random things about me" meme by Arundathi, Suganya and Srivalli. I have written a similar 5-things-about-me meme before, but decided that I contain enough randomness for one more meme :) So, here it goes...

1. Apart from food and cooking, I love reading. One of my favorite genres is the short story. I fell in love with it while reading O. Henry's and Saki's and Arthur Conan Doyle's stories as a middle-schooler. There are dozens of short stories that I remember years after reading them. I noticed that some of my favorite stories can be found online in their entirety: Saki's The Open Window, Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter, Woody Allen's The Kugelmass Episode and Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory. Of course, the proper way to enjoy them is to curl up on a couch with the book, not scroll down hastily on a screen! I'm old-fashioned like that.

2. My other favorite genre: books by the South Asian diaspora, i.e., Indian authors writing in English. It took me years and years to get to Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy. It is a mammoth book and I never felt like I had the time to do justice to it. This January, I finally had more time on my hands and lugged the book home from the library. I read it over 2-3 weeks, and it was a most delicious read.

3. My favorite short story collections from the South Asian diaspora: Swimming Lessons by Rohinton Mistry, The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri and Bangalore Stories by Lavanya Sankaran. Any other bibliophiles lurking here? You might like this link to some eco-friendly reading tips.

4. The most enjoyable thing I am doing these days (even more fun than reading books, or writing this blog): cooking at Campus Kitchen. I'll tell you more about it some other time.

5. I don't like traveling at all. Don't get me wrong: I like living in different places, and also enjoy visiting them for meetings and conference. It is *vacations* that I cannot stand. My friend Megha once sighed, "Nupur is always happier and more excited on the flight back". There is no place like home!

6. I hate shopping with all my heart. I hate shopping for clothes and shoes most of all. When I stand in stores staring at itty-bitty skirts on the mannequin, I consider the fact I will have to buy that body before I can buy the skirt. My mom buys all my clothes. Unlike me, she shops with the determination of someone pulling the economy out of recession.

7. I can juggle. Only 3 balls at a time. I never did progress beyond that.

See on on Sunday with the X of Indian Vegetables! All entries are due on Saturday.

Want to share your favorite book(s)? Please leave a comment!